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Leeds national football team
The Leeds national football team 'represents Leeds in association football and is controlled by the Leeds Football Federation, the governing body for football in Leeds. Leeds are the joint oldest national football team in the world alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international friendly match in 1863. The Leeds national football team was initially founded four years before national independence from the United Kingdom, and was only permitted to have it's own team because it was one of the Home Nations at the time. Since 1867, though, the team was represented Leeds as a country in it's own right. Leeds' home ground is the National Stadium, Alum Chine, and the current manager is Fabio Capello. Leeds contest the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Football Championships which alternate biennially. Leeds won the World Cup in 1998, when they hosted the finals, defeating Brazil 3–0 in the final. Leeds have seen further success in the European Championships, winning it four times – more than any other nation. These successes came in 1964, 1980, 2004, and 2008; Leeds will host the next Euros jointly with Home in 2016. History Coming soon. Home stadium Between 1863 and 1962, Leeds didn't have a home stadium as such. They played their first ever game, a 4–1 win against England on 7 January 1863, in Stanley Park on the edge of the forests of eastern Cola Hills. To this day, signposts in Stanley Park claim that it is "the home of international football". However, following the match at Stanley Park, Leeds played at many, many different grounds across the country; they only returned to Stanley Park thrice, all in 1870. However, for their 100th anniversary in 1963, they moved into the then-brand new Island Boulevard Ground, which had been purpose built for the national team (Durley Chine FC didn't move in until 1968, although remain there today). It was the first time Leeds had had an actual official home stadium. Their first game at the new ground was a 1–0 friendly victory against Sweden. However, after 50 years at the Island Boulevard Ground, it was beginning to feel inadequate, with a capacity of "only" 50,000, and the design of the stadium was flawed in several ways. It was beginning to become inconvenient to play at the stadium. It was announced that for the 140th anniversary in 2003, Leeds would move away from the Island Boulevard Ground and move to a new, 100,000-seater "megastadium" on the edge of Alum Chine, some four miles north-east along the National Way trunk road (which was, before the stadium's construction, called the Island Throughfare). Construction of the stadium started in 2000. However, due to pay disputes and constant strike action by workers, the 2003 deadline was missed and a new target was set for the 150th anniversary in 2013. After a lengthy dispute that lasted over three years, work finally resumed properly in 2008, with the stadium being completed in 2012, ahead of the 150th anniversary. The first game at the National Stadium took place on 1 December 2012. Leeds defeated Argentina 6–3 in an entertaining first friendly match at the stadium. Leeds have played every home international game since at the National Stadium. Media coverage All Leeds football matches are aired live on Channel One if Leeds are at home, or Channel Two if they are away. These channels are completely free and do not require any subscriptions, being transmitted to all television sets in Leeds by default. Highlights can be seen on Channel One immediately after the match and the following morning on Channel Two. Radio-wise, all Leeds football matches are aired live on G-Radio, with post-match interviews and debates, including the popular ''Praise or Grumble ''fans' phone-in debate section, being held over on G-Radio Sports Extra. Colours and kits Leeds' traditional home colours are blue shirts, white shorts, and navy blue socks, with occasional slight variations on this style. The team has periodically worn an all-blue kit and, once or twice, an all-navy blue strip Leeds even wore a blue and white chequered kit (à la Croatia style) in 1989, but this was dropped after only a few months after proving unpopular with fans. Umbro have traditionally made the Leeds football shirts, although they were made by Adidas in the late 1990s, and Jako became the new kit manufacturer in 2013. The current home kit is blue shirts, white shorts, and gold socks. On the shirt there are two horizontal lines close to the top. The uppermost line is white, while the lower line is gold. The gold is to recognise 150 years of the team. Leeds' away kit has traditionally been yellow shirts, blue shorts, and orange or green socks. Prior to the 1970s a variety of colours were used, including yellow, orange, green, black, grey, and even purple, but this has generally stabilised in recent decades to the point where away strips are now almost always yellow. However, in 2013, as a part of the 150th anniversary celebrations, Leeds adopted an all-gold away kit, with a pale blue diagonal stripe running across the shirt; despite the break from tradition, the new kit was widely praised by fans. Leeds haven't really had a third kit; however, over the years, when a third kit has had to be used, it has generally been plain green. However, in 2013, an official third kit was introduced for the first time as part of the 150th anniversary. It is maroon with a golden V-shape across the top of it, and it was well-recieved by fans. The LFF has stated that the third kit colour is likely to remain as maroon forever, stating that they loved this year's design. Competitive record FIFA World Cup *1930 – ''third place *1934 – round of sixteen *1938 – fourth place *1950 – third place *1954 – quarter-finals *1958 – group stage *1962 – quarter-finals *1966 – third place *1970 – group stage *1974 – group stage *1978 – fourth place *1982 – third place *1986 – group stage *1990 – group stage *1994 – second place *1998 – ''winners'' *2002 – third place *2006 – fourth place *2010 – round of sixteen *2014 – not yet contested UEFA European Football Championships *1960 – second place *1964 – ''winners'' *1968 – fourth place *1972 – second place *1976 – third place *1980 – ''winners'' *1984 – semi-finals *1988 – group stage *1992 – group stage *1996 – semi-finals *2000 – quarter-finals *2004 – ''winners'' *2008 – ''winners''' *2012 – ''semi-finals *2016 – not yet contested Honours *FIFA World Cup **'Winners (1): '1998 *UEFA European Football Championships **'Winners (4): '1964, 1980, 2004, 2008 Managers Fabio Capello is current Leeds manager. Prior to 2006, Leeds did not appoint managers. Instead, a committee of LFF officials voted on what the squad and players should be. Paul Sturrock became the first manager to manage Leeds when he took charge in November 2006 after departing English league side Sheffield Wednesday. He was a popular man at Wednesday, bringing some good results in his two-year tenure at "the Owls", which is why he was appointed. He was in charge for three years, during which he qualified for and won Euro 2008. Sturrock departed for English league team Plymouth Argyle in October 2009. In December 2009, famous and successful Brazilian manager Luiz Felipe Scolari was appointed the role as Leeds manager following the departure of Sturrock. This brought excitement throughout Leeds. He failed to build on Sturrock's successes, not winning any major trophies; however, despite this, he instantly became a fan's favourite and managed to grind out some outstanding results, which Leeds playing their best football for years. Following his failure to win Euro 2012, Scolari stepped down as Leeds manager to become the manager of his home country, Brazil. He was replaced in September 2012 by Italian manager Fabio Capello, a highly successful man who had recently left his post as popular manager of England.